The DaVinci Code

I'm back. And since it's been a while, how about we just get right to it, huh?

I went to see The DaVinci Code this past Memorial Day weekend. Initially, I felt that I was going to go into the theater mostly bored, and dislike the movie. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. However, I felt that the intellectualism of the book, the aspect I enjoyed so much (the story didn't do as much for me, I felt it was a bit predictable), was going to be hard to translate on screen.

Boy was I wrong.

Now, first, let me say that I read the book two years ago. I didn't remember most of the little details, just the major essence of the story (the aspects that moved the plot, the general idea, etc.). The person I went with, however, read the book about a month ago or so, and his experience was almost opposite of mine.

We both enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed it a lot more, however, because I wasn't sitting there picking apart the movie, seeing what was different from the book and what was the same. The fact is, they had to remove a lot of interesting and cool stuff because the movie was 2 and a half hours as it is, and it felt like it moved really fast. It was impossible to make a 400+ page book that's written like a movie into a normal length movie without removing some things. But we found that reading the book recently enough to remember most or all of it - then seeing the movie - is not a good mix. It disappoints you, and you miss what the movie does really well, which is capture the essence of the book.

I was certainly intrigued by the intellectual aspect (even though I already knew most of the things they revealed), and generally entertained by the movie. The only thing that seemed to move slowly was the end, but that was done well also, I think, and it was necessary to slow it down a bit. There was one change at the end that I initially was put off by, but after a couple minutes of thought I decided I actually liked that change better than the original (it made more sense, in my opinion). So, all in all, it was an enjoyable time, and certainly worth the money.

What's my recommendation, you ask? If you haven't read the book yet, don't. Go see the movie. Enjoy the story. Then go read the book and enjoy the intellectual aspect. The movie shouldn't ruin the suspense of the book, especially since there's more in the book, and the suspense that's built up for the end is (mostly) predictable anyway. If you have read the book, however, don't fret. Just enjoy the movie. Don't pick it apart, compare it. Think of it as two different entities. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you let the movie take it's course.

One last thing. Something that I'm probably the only person in the world who cares about: in the movie, one thing Ron Howard made sure to do was to have French people speaking in French to each other. It seems like a simple idea, but in so many American movies French people speak English to each other. It's something that has frustrated me for years. So props to Mr. Howard for the realism. We're all adults. We can read a couple of subtitles.

Later in the week I'll discuss the impact the movie had, the discussions it started, and why I think they're important.



I sound like I'm teaching a class or something.